Stopped Clocks
by snickers3339
Summary: She lost her chance. Where had all the time gone? Miley x Lilly


**My contribution to the Liley community. This is not...my norm. This is not what I usually write. I have to stress that, but I was inspired. You _all_ write damn awesome fics!! :) A few fics that I've read lately: _All_ of Glistening Shadow's fics, Here Without You, Miley by AlvinFan07, Higher Power Meltdown by Jessan151, ** **Lie About Us**** & Teach Me by lita rocks LbC, Forgiving and Forgetting by AThousandTimesMore...and many more. xD**

**Yeah, you're all _fantastic_. I marvel at your writing prowess. :)**

**Kind words of feedback would be awesome, please and thank you.**

**

* * *

**

**Stopped Clocks  
**

summary: _She lost her chance. Where had all the time gone? Miley x Lilly  
_

_

* * *

_

Time had flown by too fast for Miley's liking. At the present moment, she was seated in a large and fanciful banquet hall, her stomach doing flips.

"May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Oken!"

Miley clapped her hands slowly as her eyes greedily raked over the form of her best friend as she and her new husband glided out on to the dance floor. She sipped at her champagne, tentatively smacking her lips as it coated the surface. She set the glass down as her hands began to shake.

She told herself she could do it. She told herself she'd be _strong_. For _her_. It would always be for her.

Why then, was her heart thumping painfully out of control?

Her eyes re-focused on the newlyweds who were smoothly gliding across the floor. Oliver was radiating happiness, from his gelled hair to his sparkling eyes to his hands which were gripping Lilly's waist with the barest hint of a tremble.

It was not the groom that Miley had her eyes focused on. Her eyes swiveled to Lilly, who looked elegant and beautiful with her form fitting gown. Her hair was lightly curled and fell over her shoulders beautifully. Miley's breath caught and she shut her eyes as they danced right past her and she received a burst of essence that was purely Lilly.

It wasn't fair, really.

Sure, Oliver had known Lilly longer, sure he had known her secrets first, but Miley highly doubted that he had been in love with her for as long as _she _had.

Miley knew that only she, herself was to blame. She had so many chances, so many perfect moments where she could have told, where she could have relieved herself of her emotional torture. It was something to fall in love with her best friend, only able to watch as she was swept off her feet by her perfect guy. Time had flown by so quickly that Miley wasn't exactly sure when or how they had grown up so fast.

Miley watched as her line of sight became disrupted by more couples joining the dance on the floor. As time ticked by and the songs changed, Miley was painfully aware that she had lost her chance forever. It was inevitable that she was going to suffer in her future years, suffer when Lilly would become pregnant, suffer when Lilly would name her Godmother, suffer when she would look at the child she would never get to raise with the love of her life--

"Miley?"

Her eyes snapped up from her lap. Blue met blue - brimming with happiness met reserved and dark.

"What's wrong?"

Miley wanted to scream. _EVERYTHING! CAN'T YOU SEE? THIS WAS NEVER HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE._

"N--" she coughed, swallowing a sob. "Nothing."

"I'm not oblivious, Miles. What's wrong? Did Jake piss you off? I'm sorry I invited him, do you want me to kick his ass?"

Miley smiled. "No, it's not him." Miley looked around, trying to find a new topic. "Er, so why aren't you...dancing with Oliver?"

"We've been dancing for the last twenty minutes straight," Lilly said, sitting down across from her. Miley picked up the champagne, eyes still focused on her friend. Lilly yawned, leaning back and stretching her arms above her head causing Miley to nearly choke on her champagne.

A silence passed over them and Miley was starting to sweat. She didn't want to say something that could potentially ruin--

"You look beautiful," she blurted.

Lilly beamed. "Thank you, Miley. So do you," she said sincerely, placing her hand over Miley's.

And that simple action was enough to cause Miley to tremble and launch herself back into a series of memories that she had struggled to repress from the moment she had heard of Lilly and Oliver's engagement.

It was like time was working backwards and Miley could only watch as memories passed by.

_An outgoing tomboy blonde giggling with a slightly awkward brunette girl, hugging her lightly--_

_A smile and a kiss on a cheek, which instantly became flushed--_

_Hugs that lingered too long--_

_Crying in bed, begging God to help her--_

_Watching from a distance, green with envy--_

_"I love you," she whispered, once she had left--_

"No," Miley gasped as a few tears fell down her face. She brushed at them hastily.

Lilly looked a little frightened as she knelt down in front of her best friend who had seemingly gone in a trance.

"Miley? What's wrong?!"

Time stopped once more and Miley was stuck where she was, knowing that nothing she could do or say would change anything.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered brokenly. "I'm ruining your day."

"Don't say that, Miley."

"I just want you to be happy."

"I know," Lilly said, squeezing her shoulders gratefully.

"I love you," she whimpered thickly, lifting her eyes to Lilly's. Blue met blue, and instantly both were watery.

It was like the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders and in that moment, she felt so exposed and vulnerable. Years of pent-up heartache and fear of rejection was released into that one sentence and suddenly the air became thicker.

Lilly dropped her hand from Miley's shoulder.

Miley could hardly breathe with all the emotions swirling through her head.

"I love you too, Miley," she said with what seemed like an inappropriate amount of love and emotion.

She leaned in to hug her and Miley savoured the scent.

Something shifted between them and things threw themselves out of balance. It was like everything had frozen and it was just the two of them - as it was always supposed to be. She could feel Lilly's heart beating against her chest, her breath across her neck, the tears against her cheek. Miley marveled at the softness of Lilly's hair, the fragility of the girl she was holding in her arms.

In a moment, that time freeze was broken when Lilly shifted a little and suddenly the world started moving again.

Miley felt Lilly inhale and she braced herself for what she knew was coming. She shut her eyes, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes.

Lilly seemed to struggle for words as they pulled away. She lifted her eyes to meet Miley's and Miley saw the raw emotion behind them.

'_Don't say anything_,' Miley begged with her eyes.

'_I'm so sorry, Miley_,' Lilly said with hers. Her lips parted in a sigh.

Miley's lip trembled. "I just want you to be happy," she repeated, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself. "If you're happy, I'm happy."

"I love you," Lilly repeated, and Miley shut her eyes, committing that phrase to memory. "You're my best friend."

Miley slowly opened her eyes and with subtle underlying regret in her tone, she uttered a quiet "I know."

--

_end_.


End file.
